


You Know Where I’ll Be

by freddinnuendo



Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: Acquaintances to Friends to Lovers, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Barista!John, But it’s worth it in the end ;), Cappuccino art, Daydreaming, Falling In Love, Flirting, M/M, Maylor - Freeform, Paris - Freeform, Set Around Christmas, Side Deacury, Slow Burn, Texting, artist!freddie, barista!roger, countdown up to christmas, french music, just fluff, manager!tim, passing notes, pure fluff, student!Brian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:33:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21563032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freddinnuendo/pseuds/freddinnuendo
Summary: In Roger’s little 1920s Paris fantasy, he is the one who catches Brian’s eye too, and Brian gets up, walks slowly over to him, takes him by the hand and kisses him slowly and sensually on the lips. When they part, everyone in the café claps with happiness, the soft French music still playing in the background.or,Roger is a barista, Brian is his customer and Roger likes to daydream about his favourite curly haired cappuccino drinker a lot. They also fall deeply in love.
Relationships: Brian May/Roger Taylor, John Deacon/Freddie Mercury
Comments: 15
Kudos: 73





	You Know Where I’ll Be

**Author's Note:**

> hello! im back.  
> this is sort of based off an AMAZING instagram coffee art AU by @karyannmansh so you should definitely check it out!

Brian May had been coming into Cafe Freesia for as long as Roger and John could remember. Realistically, it had only been around three months or so, but the Cafe considered him a regular nowadays and so offered him coffee ‘on the house’ more than they’d like to let their manager know about. 

The first day, Roger remembers, Brian came rushing into the Cafe, his mop of hair an absolute state, his shirt untucked and his thick textbooks slipping out of his arms, exclaiming that he was late for class but wouldn’t be able to function without coffee. Which coffee? The quickest one you can make. 

And so Roger got on with making a simple Americano (they were his speciality) and handed it to Brian in under two minutes. The curly haired lad thanked him, gave him a two quid tip and rushed out the door, however not before placing his books down on the nearest table, tucking in his shirt, picking them back up again and heading out the door which he gently pushed open with his foot. 

Roger knew that he was a goner right at that brief three minute first meeting. 

The next time Brian came into the shop was when he was off to meet his friend Freddie, and this ‘Freddie’ asked him to get him a caramel latte from a coffee shop. Brian, being the fantastic friend he is, happily got Freddie the latte and ordered himself a tea along with it.  
“I know ordering tea in a coffee shop is a little absurd but the thought of caffeine right now makes me want to throw up.”  
Roger laughed, then nodded, then got to his order.

The third time Brian comes into the coffee shop is to study. He orders another tea but an hour later, he orders a cappuccino. Roger takes extra special care in swirling the little flower on top of the beverage and handles it with extreme caution when taking it over to the curly haired student. Thanks ever so much. No problem at all, sir. Is there anything else I can get you? No thanks, but expect another order in an hour or so.  
The boy smiles and Roger smiles back. He then rushes back behind the serving counter with a furious blush on his face.

“Who’s that then?” John, Roger’s co-worker and best friend asks after Roger tries to cool down his blush by smacking a wet flannel on his face.  
“Who’s who?”  
“The curly bloke over there. The one you fancy.”  
“I do not fancy him!” Roger tries his most convincing voice but it comes out like a squeak. The exact opposite of what he was aiming for.

“Oh, please. You think i’m stupid?” John, or ‘Deaky’, answers, taking the wet flannel out of the blonde’s hand to stick it back in the flannel cupboard. “Besides, where’s your name badge?” 

Roger rolls his eyes. “I told you.. I lost it back on the first day.” Roger then looks at John’s own name badge which is pinned neatly above his other badge which displays ‘employee of the month’ in black italic font. 

“Well, how do you expect him to know your name if you don’t have a name badge?” The younger boy asks him. Roger’s mouth drops open in realisation before he closes it shut.  
“Aha! I got you. You do like him! You’re thinking ‘oh God, Deaks is right.. I must get a new name badge so i’ll be one step closer of getting into this guys’ pants!”  
Roger shoves John, forgetting to be gentle.  
“You shut your mouth right now, Deacon, or i’ll tell Staffell you forgot to count all the plates last month.”  
John gasped in terror and left Roger alone, scurrying into the backroom to calm down. Roger sniggered at his perfectionist best friend. He didn’t even realise the customer waiting at the counter. 

“Oh Gosh, i’m so sorry for the delay, what can I get you?” Roger said in a panic, not even looking up to see the customer’s face being too ashamed. He was normally exceptionally good at customer service and there is nothing more annoying than waiting a long time to be served.

“Don’t worry. I’ll have another cappuccino, please.” 

Roger knew that smooth, calming voice belonged to one person and one person only. Now he felt super bad about making Brian wait. Roger met his eyes, yet another flush of embarrassment on his cheeks, and nodded quickly, grabbing the cappuccino cup and turning his back to Brian towards the barista section. “I’ll bring it over to you. It’s on the house.”

Roger always made Brian’s orders perfect. For other customers, he would be careful of course, but he wouldn’t add that extra dollop of milk and a splash of cream to make their coffees taste exceptional. Roger was pretty sure John did that with all the other customers anyways, with his perfectionist ways. He was eager to please everyone. It was cute admirable, really. Roger just couldn’t be bothered half the time. He could, however, be bothered with Brian.

He hadn’t admitted it to John yet, not wanting him to give himself too much credit for being right, but Roger was sure he fell head over heels for Brian the day he walked into their shop in a big rush. The days Brian didn’t come into the shop, Roger went home feeling all gloomy and he would jump into bed the minute he got home and start to feel sorry for himself.

Roger made do on his little tricks he added to Brian’s order. He added the promised extra milk and **two** dollops of cream (just to seem super nice). He steamed some milk as always and started his cappuccino art. He was forever thankful to the cappuccino art class he took on a whim two years ago. He was even better than John!

But, Roger concluded, he put the classic cappuccino flower on everyone’s coffee. For Brian, he fancied doing something different.  
Instead, Roger decided to write ‘sorry!’ on top of the coffee, the point at the bottom of the exclamation mark being a cutesy little heart. Happy with his work, Roger took the beverage over to Brian.

As Roger made his way over, Brian looked up from his laptop and their eyes met briefly. Brian cracked a small grin at Roger’s beaming smile and he pushed his laptop to the side a little. 

“Here you go… Brian, is it?” Roger started, placing the cup on the almond coloured oak table.  
“Yeah… I would know your name, too, if you wore a name badge like John.” Brian chuckled, winking at Roger. The blonde could have fainted right there and then but told himself he must keep his cool. 

“Oh! It’s Roger. And yeah, I lost it the first day on the job and didn’t know who to go to to get another one so I just…left it.” Roger confessed, itching the back of his neck. 

“You could have just… went to the manager? Tim, isn’t it?” Brian wondered, to which Roger nodded with a smile.  
“Oh yeah… didn’t think of that.”

The mop of curls nodded and looked down at his drink.

Roger swore that Brian developed the tiniest little pink blush on the tip of his nose and he almost cooed at the sight. He must have spotted the heart Roger cheekily included. He wanted to seem nice, after all.

“Honestly, you don’t have to apologise for the wait. I understand. However, putting the message onto my coffee is quite a smart move. I accept your apology.” Brian laughed again and took a sip of the cappuccino. Roger decided right there that Brian’s laugh was his favourite sound. And then he cringed because he was talking to himself like he was the protagonist to a chick-flick.

“No problem at all. You know where I am if you have any problemos.” Roger told him happily before skipping away behind the counter yet again to join his tutting co-worker.

“‘Any problemos? Really, Rog?” the younger man was in a fit of giggles in the middle of steaming some milk. 

“Oh shut it, you.”

On November 31st, Roger noted, Brian came in with somebody else. Roger was on table duty and quite far away from the door so he couldn’t exactly see who had accompanied Roger’s favourite customer, but Roger quickly decided that if this was a date, he must sabotage it.

Turns out it wasn’t a date, actually, and the other man who had came with him rather had the hots for Deaky, so Roger was able to let out a sigh of relief. He overheard Brian and the man’s conversation and so he came to learn that the person was called ‘Freddie’ and he was one of Brian’s best friends.  
Even though it wasn’t a date, Roger cleaned all the tables close to their extra slowly, eavesdropping as much as he could to make sure nothing else was going on between them. Was Roger bordering on obsession? Yes. Is he being unfair? Yes. Does he care? No. 

At the end of the day, even if this was a date, one of the reasons why Roger was eavesdropping was to see if this Freddie guy was good enough for him. Brian dating a dickhead is far worse than Brian not dating Roger.

Then again, Roger is just making up fairytales in his head. Brian doesn’t exactly radiate gay energy, and he could very well be straight. If he was being honest, Roger wouldn’t be surprised if he was. He also wouldn’t be surprised if Brian walked into the Cafe with a girl linked on his arm. He was a catch, after all.

But at the back of his mind, Freddie seemed to be far more focused on Deaky so he had nothing to worry about. Freddie seemed nice enough if Roger went by the friendly chat he and Brian were engaging in. 

Roger sidled up to Deaky and elbowed him gently. “Oi you! Seems like you got an admirer over there.” Roger teased, making Deaky go as red as a tomato.  
“Shut it!” Deaky immediately responded. Pause. “He is wonderful though, isn’t he?” He breathed, staring at Freddie himself.

Roger quietly cat called. “Do I sense a romance, mr Deacon?”  
“You can talk! You are just as far gone for Brian as I am for Freddie!” Deaky whisper-yelled, walking over to the sink to wash his hands.  
“Yes but that’s different… Freddie likes you. Brian just knows I exist.”

Deaky gave Rog a look of pity but quickly replaced it with menace. “Sucks to be you then.”  
Roger gasped in mock offence. “You little shit…” - Deaky giggled and made his way over to the next customer, pressing their order into the till and holding out his palm to receive the old lady’s payment. 

“What she want?” Roger asked, wiping his hands on a clean cloth.  
“Luckily nothing too fancy. Just a black coffee.” Roger nodded and got straight to work.  
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Freddie stand up and head over to the counter. He quickly glanced at John, who had also seen the raven-haired man making his way over and was blushing violently. John quickly spun around to face Roger, panic evident on his innocent face. This was quite adorable. Shy, quiet Deaky getting flustered over his admirer, who was definitely not shy and not quiet. Quite the opposite. Roger looked over at Brian, who was now sat alone but reading something on his phone, then turned back to Deaky. He looked at him as if to say ‘go on!’.

Roger could barely hear their conversation but he would make do with his limited hearing. 

“Hello darling.” - Darling? What sort of man called people ‘darling’ nowadays. Deaky clearly seemed to like it, though.

“Oh! Um.. hello, sir.. What can I get for you?” John sputtered. Roger had to hold in a laugh at his nervous friends’ awkward opening line. Freddie must have found it endearing, though, as he let out a soft ‘aw’ before ordering his drink.

“Can I just get a darjeeling tea, lovely?” Roger raised an eyebrow. Hardly anyone ordered a darjeeling.  
“Reminds me of home.” Freddie finished.

“Oh? Where are you from?” Yes Deaky!  
“Zanzibar, originally. But I went to boarding school in India… I drank a lot of darjeeling there and so whenever I see a ‘jeeling on a menu, I never fail to snatch it up.”  
That made John giggle and he pressed the order into the till.  
“It’s on the house.”  
“Oh don’t be silly, darling! Here,” Freddie rummaged through his purse which, Roger might add, is covered in rhinestones and has a picture of a mountain of cats slotted into the wallet. Freddie handed John the desired £2.50 and John was obviously too shy to argue back.

“Oh… thank you.” Deaky said as Freddie popped in a £5 note for a tip. £5! Brian gave Roger £3 tops!

“Darjeeling, right?” Roger asked and John responded with a nod. “He’s crazy for you, Deaks. I bet he’ll ask you out on a date before they leave.”  
John just shook his head, his whole face still a shade of pink.

Turns out Freddie didn’t ask John out as they left, but he did pop in the next day with a little flower and asked him then. 

It had been three days since Brian last came into the shop and Roger was starting to become irritable. He missed his favourite curly haired customer. He was probably busy with Uni, though. Roger remembered when he asked him what he studied. Astrophysics. I’m aiming to get a PhD…

So this guy was super super smart as well as devilishly handsome? Roger would be an insane man not to be in love!

It was a Thursday. Roger always had Thursday’s and Saturday’s off and so he lounged about in his little flat working on his own Uni work.  
They were mostly just going through the basics of Biology since it was nearly the Christmas holidays, so Mrs Hughes wanted to round in all the stuff they knew so they could work on other things during the holidays. Selective Breeding, Biodiversity, the brain, the eye, the nervous system, reflex reactions. All the stuff Roger found incredibly easy.

His phone pinged due to a text from Deaky.

**‘I JUST LOST MY VIRGINITY’**

Roger spat his pepsi all over the coffee table. First of all, why would John tell him this? Too much info… Second of all, Roger was so bloody happy for his best friend. He finally lost it at the ripe age of nineteen to hopefully a nice person.

**‘To who??!??!?!?!?!’**

**‘Who do you think, dummy?!’**

**‘Freddie??!?!?!’**

**‘YES’**

The two of them had been dating for around two weeks now and it shocked Roger that John had already let him take something so precious. But Roger knew Freddie was a good guy and that he was just as crazy for Deaky as Deaky was for him.

**‘Freddie also said Brian talked about you.’**

This got Roger’s immediate attention.

**‘WHAT did he say?!’**

The three little dots which signified John was typing seemed to go on forever.

**‘He apparently said you were sweet and that you make better coffee than me. Which, might I add, is terribly insulting!’**

Roger let out a howl mixed with a squeal at John’s response. Brian thought he was sweet! And that he makes good coffee, better than John’s! (Thank you extra milk and dollops of cream!)

This motivates Roger to get all of his work done. The work is actually due in around two weeks and the fact that Roger hasn’t left it till the night before is a rare occurrence.

**‘I assume you’re screaming the house down. I’ll see you tomorrow’**

John was right. He was screaming the house down.

It was on Sunday 12th December when Brian decided to waltz into the coffee shop again after his sudden radio silence. As soon as Roger saw that mop of hair walk into the shop after what seemed like a full hibernation, he could hardly control his excitement. Oh how he’d missed his favourite customer!

“Long time no see.” Brian greeted him with a shy smile. “I’ll have another cappuccino, please.” He said, fishing his wallet out of his back pocket. He placed a pound tip for Roger in the little pouch that resided on the service counter and smiled, looking at the barista.

Brian handed Roger the £2.50 for the coffee.  
“I thought you died.” Roger blurted out with a shy grin. Brian chuckled. “Almost, I tell you.” 

Roger just nodded and got to work on the drink. 

“You know where i’ll be.” Brian exclaimed and Roger nodded again. _I know where you’ll be._

••

Roger truly couldn’t complain. He yearned for Brian, yes, but he also had, not a ‘friendship’ with him, but more of ‘acquaintanceship’. It wasn’t like Roger longed for Brian from afar, that Brian wasn’t even aware of Roger’s existence. They talked occasionally. Not as much as Roger would have liked but he would take what he would get. And for that reason, he couldn’t complain.

••

Roger was getting tired of just the friendly ‘hello’s’ him and Brian would exchange, wanting something more. From past experience, Roger learned that he wasn’t terrible at flirting, but it had been a while since he had done so, having either been knee deep in Uni work or spending his hours at the shop. Even so, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Very lightly and very slowly. Good things come to those who wait (but also put a tiny bit of effort in).

It was on Tuesday 14th December when Brian came into the shop once again, laptop under his arm. He was dressed in one of the most adorable dark red sweaters and his curls looked just _perfect_.He looked good enough to eat and Roger found himself almost drooling all over the place.

Everything always seemed to go in slow motion when Brian made his way through those coffee shop doors. Roger was most appreciative of this because that way he was able to admire Brian and all of his perfections and very little flaws.

Like how his eyebrows furrowed slightly when pulling open the entrance door (it was quite heavy compared to other doors!). How his eyes scanned across the shop as he entered before they softly lay on Roger. He also had the cutest _nose_ , Roger thought. Oh God. He really was far gone.  
It was long and slender and shaped his face flawlessly. He truly was sculpted by the Greek Gods. That was the only explanation. 

He always wore faded blue jeans. Never saggy, Roger noted, which was always an unattractive look on men. They were pulled up nice and tight which not only looked smarter, but also framed his ass very nicely which Roger also appreciated.

His eyes were like pools of hazel honey. Does hazel honey exist? Probably not, but that’s the only word Roger can think to describe them. If hazel honey did exist, they were Brian’s eyes. Hazel honey was quickly becoming one of Roger’s favourite… colours? Was it a colour? Whatever it was, it was Brian’s gorgeous, bright eyes.

His lips, oh, his lips! Don’t even get Roger started. The amount of times that Roger has stared at his lips and the way they curve over the edge of the cappuccino mug was borderline creepy. Roger just couldn’t help himself, though. Whenever Brian (sadly) left and Roger went to clean up his table, he would always stare at the empty mug and think ‘you lucky son of a bitch.’

“Morning.” Brian greeted, a lovely smile upon his face. His smile was just so contagious that Roger couldn’t help but return it. 

“Morning… cappuccino?” The barista raised his eyebrow, smile still upon his face. Brian nodded. “You know me too well.” 

Roger bit the inside of his cheek to stop the blush that was threatening to appear and started on Brian’s cappuccino. “Coming right up.”

Roger expected for Brian to either say ‘you know where i’ll be’ or ‘i’ll be sat right there’ before leaving the counter and sitting down at one of the cafe’s many tables. But he didn’t. He stayed put and eyed up the cakes and sandwiches on display. 

Roger didn’t comment on it though and tried not to let it let him cock up his work. He payed extra attention to the making of Brian’s coffee, wanting it to be perfect.

He added the usual splash of milk and two dollops of cream and then got onto the tricky part. He steamed some milk and squinted as he perfected the top of Brian’s cappuccino.

He put the mug on a china saucer, along with a little spoon and two sachets of sugar. Brian looked up at him as he held out the drink.

“Here’s your coffee, Mr. Brian.” Roger exclaimed, handing the older and much taller boy the cup and saucer.

“Yeah… thanks.” Brian replied before looking down at his drink. The words ‘good morning’ were squiggled on the top with a heart on the top of the ‘i’ and another heart surrounding the text. Brian coughed and looked back up at the barista. 

“Good morning.” He squeaked, before scurrying off to his usual table in the corner of the shop.

A flustered Brian will forever be one of Roger’s favourite sights.

Deaky was off work today so it was just Roger and Tim. However, it was really just Roger considering Tim had fallen asleep in the back room. Thankfully, the shop was relatively empty. There was two elderly ladies quietly chattering and Brian, who was sat perfectly in his spot, typing away at his laptop.

Because the shop was so empty and Roger was so bloody bored, he decided to spark up a hopeful conversation with Brian as he went to collect his empty cup.

“Anything else?” Roger asked politely. Brian shook his head. “Not just yet. I need to finish this essay for next week and I just had the most fantastic idea and I can’t afford to lose it.” He told the blonde, tapping the side of his head with his middle and index fingers. 

“Ah, a hard worker, I see. Whats this one about? The moon?” This was it! A proper conversation!

Brian chuckled. “Astrophysics isn’t just about the moon, you know? And no, it’s about Magnetohydrodynamics.” - Brian said that like he expected Roger to know what it was but the barista just looked right at him, a look of utter confusion upon his face.

“And… what is magnetic hydro mechanics?” Roger stumbled over his words. He didn’t even know how to say the bloody thing!

Brian let out another bout of laughter. “Magneto-hydro-dynamics.” He howled. “And it’s basically where we look at electrically conducted fluids like salt water. I didn’t know it was on the spec, to be honest, so when they told me I had to write a whole essay on it, I was bloody pissed.”

“Wow, you make me sound like a total dum dum.” 

Brian laughed again. It was Roger’s weakness. “What are you studying?”

“Just Biology.” The blonde answered, shrugging his shoulders like it was no big deal.

“Biology? No way! That’s amazing. I could never get my head around Biology. Now you make me look like a total dum dum!” 

Roger’s heart could have burst with love. His cheeks flushed yet again and he looked down at his feet in embarrassment, shaking his head.

“I’d love to chat more, Roger, I really would, but I need to get this essay finished. I’m sorry, that sounds so rude.” Brian frowned, sticking his bottom lip out in a way which made Roger inwardly scream.

But, Roger could feel his mood being brought down almost instantly. But he understood. Essays were a bitch and he wasn’t helping at all by bugging and boring Brian. 

“Oh! No problem… good luck.” Roger smiled, hiding his disappointment. He picked up the empty cup and strolled back over to the counter, placing it in the sink ready for the pot wash. He then put £5.50 in the till and grabbed a chicken salad sandwich for his lunch and made himself his very own cappuccino. But, without the extra milk and without the two dollops of cream. Only Brian was worthy of that special treatment.

Two hours later, Brian left the shop with a gentle nod and wave of the hand. In those two hours, Roger had made him two cappuccinos, one with a smiley face on the top and one with ‘good luck!’ squiggled on the top, a heart at the bottom of the exclamation point _of course_.

And so, Roger skipped over to Brian’s table to collect the remaining cup and saucer. However, when he got there, he found a little piece of paper sticking out from underneath the little plate. Roger picked up the china carefully and retrieved the little note.

**sorry i couldn’t chat for long. thank you for being so understanding, though :) and thanks for the coffee… you’re a life saver!  
bri x**

Roger nearly cried with happiness… especially at the little heart which resided at the bottom of Brian’s exclamation mark and the tiny kiss after his name. He carefully stuffed the note in his apron’s breast pocket, picked up the cup and saucer and squealed as her reached the sink behind the counter.

••

The next day, Wednesday 15th December, Brian came into the shop yet again. This time, however, without a laptop and without a textbook. Just his own perfect self. Roger grew lightheaded at the sight of him in a cosy grey jumper with a navy blue bobble hat sat on top of his jumble of curls. However does he keep that hair under control? Roger barely managed to keep his how he liked it!

“No work today?” Roger wondered, rushing up to the counter to serve him. Brian shook his head. “Nope. Nothing today. I finished that essay yesterday and tweaked it when I was home. All done and dusted.” He stated proudly, a big beam on his soft yet sexily sharp features.

“Well done! I’m supposing a celebratory cappuccino?” Roger already started to get the till ready to type in Brian’s usual order…

“Actually, no. I might have one of your Christmas ones… the gingerbread latte sounds nice?” 

“Oooh, going all fancy on me, are you?” Roger teased, entering Brian’s order onto the machine.  
“As much as i’d love to give this to you on the house, Tim has told us to cut it down because we’re low on money and...stuff, so that’ll be £4 pretty please.”

“You’re asking as if i’d just refuse to pay,” Brian joked. “Here.” He handed Roger the four pound coins but dropped another pound into the tip jar.

“You know, you don’t have to tip me all the time.” Roger whispered, his insides tingling.

“I know, but you always give me extra milk and two dollops of cream so it’s the least I can do.” Brian replied, winking before he went over to his usual table, sitting down and bringing out his phone, tapping on the screen.

Roger was left in shock. _How_ does he know about his secret recipe? 

At that very moment, John rushed through the door. Roger may have found his culprit.

“I’m so sorry i’m late, I got caught up in… traffic..” John stuttered, but there really was no point. They both knew John and Freddie had been shagging but had lost track of time. Roger rolled his eyes and John sucked on his bottom lip with shame.  
“Sorry. Lost track of time.”  
“Thought so.” Roger winked.

John slid on his apron and pinned on his name badge. “Loverboy’s here.” He pointed out.  
“Yeah, i’m making his now. Gingerbread Latte.”  
“Ooo, how millenial of him.”  
“I know! I was aghast!” The blonde joked with a giggle, pouring the freshly made coffee into a latte cup, which was significantly larger than the cappuccino cup.

“Oh wow, this was bigger than I suspected.” Brian gasped at the sight of the drink when Roger brought it over. “Certainly worth the four quid.” 

Roger hummed in agreement. “You’re the first to order this, I think. Please don’t sue me if it takes like ass.”  
Brian shook his head. “Would never do such a thing.”

The coffee shop was empty yet again apart from Brian (of course), himself and John and a family of four (who, to their credit, were being awfully quiet).

Roger was leaning on the counter side, earphones plugged into his mobile and into his ears. He had recently taken a liking to French music for some odd reason, and found himself listening to Edith Piaf’s _La Vie En Rose_. Cliché, he knows, but he loves the aesthetic.

He also gazes at Brian as he listens. The music makes him feel as if he’s in the 1920s, in a gorgeous Parisian café instead of his own tacky one. He’s dressed in a classy barista’s outfit, a swanky cigarette hanging from his lips (because they were _cool_ back then) and Brian is sat at his table, wearing the sexiest black suit striped with tiny vertical white lines. He’s also smoking a cigarette, reading the morning newspaper.

He’s also drinking a whiskey (because coffee shops were _cool_ back then) and Roger can’t keep his eyes off of him. The café is full of beautiful, classy people, yet the only person who catches Roger’s eye is _him_. In any life, this one or the next, Roger is sure that Brian is the only one who’d be able to catch his eye. 

However, in Roger’s little 1920s Paris fantasy, Roger is the one who catches Brian’s eye too, and Brian gets up, walks slowly over to Roger, takes him by the hand and kisses him slowly and sensually on the lips. When they part, everyone in the café claps with happiness, the soft French music still playing in the background.

Modern-day Roger takes a look at Modern-day Brian and sighs dreamily. He looks out of this world. Would it be weird if Roger tried to sneak a photograph? Most likely. Roger does it anyways.

He silently raises his phone and turns it landscape. He can see Brian through the lens, the yellow square face identifier focusing on him. Roger clicks and a photograph is taken. Roger could take photos of him forever.

He tries to take another one. He watches the screen on his phone and, at that very moment, Brian raises his eyes directly at the lens. Roger almost screams but he just stands still. If he acts weird, he’ll get found out.

Brian does nothing, though. He just smiles and blushes a little before going back to sipping on his coffee and reading the newspaper Roger hadn’t even realised he was holding.

The barista puts his phone down and feels a sudden tap on his back. He turns and John is stood behind him with a raised eyebrow.

“Two things. One, that was super creepy. You can’t just take photos of people, Roger! Two, here’s your new name badge, dummy.” 

••

A week later, on Tuesday 19th December, Roger learns that Tim is making him work on Christmas eve.

“But come _on_ , Tim! It’s Christmas Eve!” He whines, pleading for the day off.

“Roger, stop being a whine. I’m not asking you to work on Christmas, just the _eve_! It’s a sunday, too, so you’ll get to leave earlier anyways.” 

Roger just rolls his eyes and accepts defeat. “Is Deaky working too?” He asks.

“Nah, said he had to go out of town to visit his family” - John didn’t lie. His family had recently moved to Newcastle so it was a good four/five hour drive. “Sorry mate. You’re in.”

Roger huffs and grabs his apron from the apron hook. He pins on his brand new name badge and heads out to serve the early bird customers. Hopefully the shop will be quiet on Christmas Eve so Roger could at least pretend he was at home. Or at home in Paris in the 1920s.

••

On the Wednesday (the 20th), Brian makes his way into the shop again. He still hasn’t got his textbooks or laptop so Roger wonders what on Earth he comes in for nowadays. But then it clicks. Coffee, obviously.

“Hiya.” He greets Roger. Roger returns the greeting.

“Another gingerbread?”

Brian ponders. “Ah, go on then.” He decides, retrieving a five pound note from his pocket. Roger smiles with a faint blush as he gives Brian his £1 change and their fingers brush for a fraction of a second.

“I’ll just wait for it here.” 

Roger nods and makes his coffee. 

“I saw you take a picture of me last week.” Brian brings up and Roger almost dropped the whole coffee he was working on. He felt traumatized.

“Uh… are you sure?” - just deny it. Deny it, Roger!

“Mhm, pretty sure. I don’t mind, honestly. Just wondered why?” Brian leans forward and places his elbows on the counter, placing his _perfect_ face into his _perfect_ hands all while sporting a _perfect_ twinkle in his eye and a _perfect_ smile.

Roger just shrugs. Brian takes it and smiles even wider.

“I think your friend was over at ours last night.” Brian starts up a different conversation, not wanting to make Roger uncomfortable no matter how much he loves the blonde’s blush.

“‘Ours’?”  
“Oh, mine and Freddie’s. We live together.”  
“Oh, probably then. They still shagging like bunnies then, huh?”

Brian cringes. “Yup. Until 2am!”  
Roger snorts and places Brian’s gingerbread latte on the side. “Good! I had to put up with it for two bloody weeks, it’s your turn now!” 

Brian takes a sip of the hot liquid, laughing into it whilst looking at Roger. Roger turns pink, obviously. 

“I came in last week on Thursday but you weren’t here.” Brian tells him, frowning. Roger puts some money in the till for his lunch whilst overthinking Brian’s last sentence. Did Brian come in to see him? No. He was getting his hopes up, as usual.

“Oh.. yeah. I don’t work on thursdays, sorry.” Roger returns the playful pout and takes a bite out of a white chocolate eclair.

“A wonderfully healthy lunch, I must say Rog.” 

_‘Rog’._

“Oi, my diet starts tomorrow!”  
“Don’t be silly, you don’t need a diet. You look perfect just as you are.”

This is when Roger realises that what Brian just said is totally cliché and totally cringe but it sends endless jolts of electricity up his spine. 

He doesn’t know how to respond to that and so the blonde takes another bite out of his wonderfully healthy lunch. 

“Anyways, you know where i’ll be.” Brian nods and goes to sit down at his table. 

Brian doesn’t stay long, much to Roger’s disappointment. But, Roger spots another note below the leftover cup and saucer and he practically runs over to inspect it.

**I was going to pop in tomorrow but you told me you weren’t working so there really isn’t any point.**  
I loved the coffee. Thank you. I’ll see you on friday, hopefully.  
Bri x 

Roger had to steady himself so he wouldn’t faint on the spot. Even despite the lovely message, Roger refused to overthink it. Brian was just being friendly. He again tucket the note neatly in his breast pocket. Friday couldn’t come any sooner.

On Friday the 22nd of December, Brian stuck to his word and pulled open the doors to the coffee shop.

“And he’s back.” Deaky sighed, walking over to the back room and calling Freddie, his _boyfriend_. 

“He’s back.” Roger whispered to himself. He then inwardly slapped himself for acting like a school girl with a crush who was bound to turn him down if he ever found the balls to tell him how he felt.

“Told you i’d be back.” _You did, and you came. Thank you._

“You did, indeed. What can I get you?”  
“Actually, can I get one of those eclairs? And a pepsi, please.”  
“Damn, a new order everyday! You’re a changing man, Brian.” 

Brian chuckles and hands over the money and Roger hands over the change. Brian just puts the change in the tips and Roger flushes all over again. 

“Here.” Brian whips out a piece of paper and a pen. “I can’t stay here today, gotta run a few errands so.. text me?” 

Roger grasped the corners of the counter because this time he might actually hit the deck. Was his life suddenly a quirky Taylor Swift song? It seems so.

Roger just violently nods and takes the paper from Brian. The taller man waves him a goodbye before he heads out the door, pepsi in hand and eclair in a little paper bag. 

Roger then takes the time to look down at the ripped piece of paper. 

**07373 384017  
bri x**

Roger loves how he signs it just so he is absolutely sure it came from him and nobody else. Just incase. It makes Roger fall even more in love with him.

“Oh my God! He gave you his _number_! This is the start of something, Rog.” Deaky comes out from the backroom, a flush up his neck.

“If you just had phone sex with Freddie in the back room then don’t come near me or i’ll thump you, I swear.”

John takes Roger’s words seriously, ducks his head and downs a glass of water. 

“For your information, we didn’t.” Deaky defends himself with a feeble voice.

“Oh, nice try, I can read you like a book you dirty bastard.” 

••

On his way home, Roger takes out the pepsi he got himself back at the café. He was on lock up duty so it was a little later than usual, around 8pm to be precise. He takes a long gulp and relishes in the sweet, crisp taste of the bottle of pure sugar. 

He still has Brian’s note with his number neatly scribbled on it in his back pocket where he put it after he took off his apron. Infact, he still has the other notes Brian has cheekily given him. They’re placed in the corner of the frame with a picture of him and his sister, Clare.

Roger smiles at the thought. It was a classic chick-flick. Passing notes like all the kids in highschool did. He felt so bubbly and tingly nowadays thanks to a certain curly haired astrophysics student and he adored it. He hadn’t felt this way about anyone for ages. His past relationship didn’t end too well and so it pretty much put Roger off dating for a while. That was until Brian walked into the shop for the first time. 

Roger walked into his little flat and headed straight into the living room, flopping onto the sofa, grabbing the TV remote and pressing the power on button.

After around ten minutes, he finally built up enough courage to pull out the note and text the owner of the phone number.

**Hello, is this Brian?**

The classic opening line to a new number you got off of somebody. Not expecting an instant answer, Roger got up to make a quick dinner. He had practically nothing in the kitchen apart from three litres of chocolate milk, a four pack of strawberry mousses, teabags and sugar, coffee, chicken dippers and a meat feast microwave pizza. Roger switched on the kettle and popped the pizza into the microwave for two and a half minutes.

His phone pinged forty seconds into the cooking off his pizza and the blonde jumped.

**That’s me. I’m taking this is Roger**

Roger’s tummy tingling again.

**The one and only. How were your errands?**

Roger applauded himself for seeming cool and collected on text. In real life he was exploding.

**Boring as ever. Honestly wished I could have stayed in the shop but at least it’s all done now. What’re you doing?**

**Cooking my dinner and boiling the kettle, nothing special. I was on closing duty so I only just got home.**

**What are you having for dinner? Not an eclair, I hope ;)**

Roger giggles at Brian’s joke.

**Nope, sadly not. Meat feast microwave pizza**

**First of all, _microwave pizza?_ And second of all, you murderer! Not even just a single piece of meat like pepperoni, but a feast! Ashamed x**

_Ah_ ,Roger realises. His man is a veggie. Roger even finds _that_ cute.

**Ah, so you’re a veggie?**

**I am indeed. I got dinner at a pub, actually and they gave me a beef lasagne instead of the vegetarian one!**

**If you had come back to the shop, I wouldn’t have made such a mistake!**

**When Café Freesia starts selling vegetarian lasagnes, you give me a call, okay?**

**Will do! And I can now considering I have your number. Woop woop :)**

The microwave pings and it catches Roger’s attention. **Brb, pizza’s done** , he types. 

Brian replies with **okie dokie :) x** and Roger falls even more in love, if that was even possible.

When Roger gets into bed, he starts to message Brian again. 

**Tbh, the pizza could have been better but at least I have a full tummy now. Whatcha doin?**

He waits for a reply which comes almost immediately.

**Glad to hear it. And i’m currently sat in bed reading my book.**

Oooo what book?

**‘Hyperspace’ by Michio Kaku. Super interesting, actually. Probably not your type of thing, though.**

**Ah, yes, you’re right. I googled it, though. Parallel universes are cool!**

Brian laughs out loud at Roger’s message. _Parallel universes are hella cool_ , he thinks.

**Mhm. What are you doing?**

Roger replies.  
**Lay in bed, too. Nothing interesting. I was about to head off to sleep but chatting to you is way more interesting.**

Brian could say with much confidence that he pretty much fell head over heels for the blonde barista the day he ran into Café Freesia, late for his first class of the day. Sadly, he didn’t wear a name badge like his co-worker ‘John’, so Brian had no idea who he was. It was later revealed that his name was in fact Roger and it quickly became one of Brian’s favourite names.

He also had to rush out of the door pretty quickly due to being late, and he cursed his unprepared alarm clock because _that_ was the reason why he couldn’t be in the barista’s company for more than three minutes.

Brian made it a habit of going into the café as much as he could so he could sit back and enjoy the sight of the beautiful boy behind the service counter. 

When he turned up on a thursday and didn’t see Roger at all, however, he went straight back home after he ordered a take out cappuccino (which, might he add, taste like shit compared to Roger’s due to the lack of extra milk and two dollops of cream) and felt sorry for himself. One day without seeing the blonde and he was already down in the dumps.

But, when he went back the next day, the blonde was there and Brian couldn’t be happier. 

When Roger started to craft cute little messages with steamed milk on top of his usual cappuccino, Brian’s heart would jump with joy. His eyes would instantly go to the little hearts the boy would hide in the message and his whole body melted with adoration. 

Brian had then taken up his own little table because he was at the cafe so much. He wasn’t always there because of Roger, though. On Thursday he would actually go in quite regularly to get some actual work done. However, he ignored how much it hurt to order his coffees to a different barista instead of his usual bubbly, lively and certainly perfect blonde barista. 

On the day when he caught Roger taking a sneaky photo of him when he was sat in the corner reading something that he now can’t remember, his whole body went into shock. He didn’t mind at all that Roger was taking photos of him, in fact he liked it. The only thing Brian was left asking was _‘why did he take photos of me?’_

Brian shocked himself when he worked up the courage to give Roger his number. He had never been this forward or confident with anyone before, but he figured that he had grown too damn tired of waiting for the universe to just push him and Roger together naturally. And so, he took matters into his own hands and now here they were, texting each other all night, huge smiles on their faces because they were texting their loves.

••

“John’s just phoned in sick, Rog. Are you okay to work today? You can come in at 10 instead of 9.” 

This was the phonecall that greeted him oh so pleasantly at 8 in the morning. It served as Roger’s alarm, actually. It was saturday, which was one of Roger’s two days off in the week and he made a mental note to rip Deaky to shreds when he next saw him.

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll be there.” Roger agreed, not wanting to piss Tim off because having an earful from his boss at that time was the last thing he needed.

“You’re a life saver Rog. You’ll get paid too so don’t worry.” 

“You bet I am!” 

And so, Roger managed to drag himself out of bed and started to get ready. It was the day before Christmas Eve and for that reason, the shop was bound to get busy today. Tomorrow would be hectic too and Roger let out a loud groan when he realised that he would also be working tomorrow.

He quickly shaved and washed his face and applied some cologne. He brushed back his blonde locks and put on a simple black t-shirt with some blue jeans. He felt like an E boy but he was way too tired to care.

When he got to the café he was relieved to see it empty aside from Tim, who was waiting for him at the desk, fingers tapping against the wood in irritation. When his boss finally looked at Roger, he beamed a full smile and let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank god you’re here Rog! Honestly, I can’t thank you enough. Thank you.” Tim cried, patting Roger on the shoulder before heading into the staff room. _Well_ , thought Roger. _That’ll be the last i’ll see of you all day you lazy bastard._

The door chimed signifying the first customer of the day. Roger prepared himself for a day full of fake smiles and fake chit chat. He wanted to go home already and it wasn’t even 10 o’clock yet.

However, when the eyes of the customer met his, he didn’t want to leave at all.

“Mornin’” Brian said happily, spirits high.  
“Oh! Hello. First customer of the day.” Roger told the older boy, heart immediately pumping faster than usual.  
“Oh, am I? I tried to come earlier than usual to get in a chat with you before the crowd starts swarming in… day before Christmas Eve ‘n all…”

Roger nodded, trying not to show how his stomach did somersaults. Brian came in earlier than usual so he could _talk_ to him. 

“Wanna sit over there?” Brian asked the barista. Roger was unsure. It would look very unprofessional if he just sat there whilst nobody was serving customers. But then he had an idea.

“I have a better plan. Wait here.” Roger grinned devilishly before rushing off to the staffroom.

He saw Tim in there who was sat on the small antique sofa with a glass of apple juice in his hands. Tim raised an eyebrow at Roger and tilted his head.

“Can I go on break? For an hour?”  
“But your breaks are only 15 minutes!”  
“I know but I took over Deaky, didn’t I? The least you could give me is an extended break.”  
Tim grumbled. “But you only just got here!”  
“Deaky isn’t here at all, but I am. So please, could I have an hour break? I could have said no this morning, but I didn’t.” Roger argued, crossing his arms. (He was determined to win this, for his and Brian’s sake)

Tim obviously didn’t want Roger to leave the shop, especially as he hadn’t been here for an hour yet, but he supposed he was right. He did help him a lot this morning because of John’s absence.

“Fine.” Tim decided with a huff. “But no more than an hour!”

Roger thanked his boss profusely, hanging up his dirty apron and stuffing his name badge in his pocket. He made his way out to Brian who was still leaning on the service counter, playing with a 50p he must have found in his own pocket.

“C’mon.” Roger cried. “We’re going out.”

“What?” Brian answered, a confused look upon his face. Roger told him about how he was now on his break but only for an hour. They had to make this a quick one. Oh! Amazing. Cool. Let’s go then.

••

Because of the fact that it had just gone ten past ten in the morning, not many fancy restaurants were open, so the two boys had to settle for chit chat around the town. It was also mid winter, so Roger was wrapped up in thin coat which was layered over Brian’s very own knee length one (much to Roger’s refusal) and he wore Brian’s bobble hat on his head.

Brian, however, had been smart and he had properly wrapped up. Even after giving half of his clothes to Roger, he was still warm as he had the world's most cuddly sweater and a wooly scarf. They certainly looked the part

And yet even after Roger was confined within Brian’s coat and hat, he was still shivering. “I’m just a skinny little thing, hence why i’m so cold!”

Brian laughed at Roger’s annoyed little tone and he wrapped his left arm around his shoulder as they walked, so close to each other that they could feel both of their body heats merging into one. Brian brung Roger in even closer and tighter, never wanting to let go of the smaller boy.

After a small while of walking in comfortable silence, Brian asked Roger to tell him about himself. 

“Well, I'm 21. I go to Uni but you already knew that-” Brian chuckled with a nod. “Oh! I have a sister called Clare. She’s lovely. You’d like her. We could pass as twins!”

“Oh, then i’d definitely like her.” Brian agreed, and Roger didn’t feel so cold anymore.

The younger boy didn’t know what to reply to that, so he just leaned into Brian’s touch and nodded. Brian loved how Roger got that little bit closer to him.

They talked for what seemed like forever, but was really only about 30 minutes. Looking at his watch, Brian realised they only had an hour before Roger had to go back on his shift.

“Come with me.” Brian whispered, taking Roger’s petite, icy hand and leading him off to somewhere Roger had no idea of.

The walk to the mysterious place took around twenty minutes, which left them with ten minutes together left. Roger would have to be a little bit late back to the shop and Tim would have to live with it.

“I used to come here all the time as a kid.” Brian told Roger. Their hands were still gripped tight to each others, neither boy wanting to let go. Roger took in the sight before him. 

It was a small little area, nothing too big, nothing too small. It was surrounded with trees and bushes, yet smack bang in the middle was a little stream which flowed into a little pond.  
“My mum always used to tell me that fairies lived here.” Brian giggled, still clasping onto Roger’s hand. The blonde laughed along with him, looking down at the tiny body of water.

Even though Brian was laughing softly, Roger could hear the melancholy tone in his gentle voice. “What happened to her?” He wondered, not knowing if this was an acceptable area of conversation.

Brian didn’t tell him off, though. He just replied with a sad sigh. “Breast cancer. They caught it pretty late, though, so she didn’t have too long to live. The doctors told me she wasn’t in any pain but I find that very hard to believe.” 

Roger felt his whole heart being torn out of his chest for the older man. He wished he could take away all of his pain because nobody, especially Brian, deserved this kind of hurt and trauma in their lives.

“God, Brian, i’m so sorry.” Roger told him sincerly, going to lean the side of his head on Brian’s shoulder. The latter didn’t object and so he did exactly that. They looked into the water together, both imagining little fairies jumping in and out of the stream.

“I reckon your mum was right. There is no way fairies don’t live here!” The blonde attempted to brighten the mood a little. 

Brian didn’t reply, just sat in silence. Roger didn’t blame him. He would have done the same.

A loud beeping interrupted their tranquility, however. It was the alarm that Brian set on his phone for when the two of them should head back to the Cafe.

Roger stood up before the other and held out his hand for Brian to take. Brian did exactly that and they both walked back to the shop, hand in hand, not one word spoken because words didn’t need to be spoken. They felt as if they knew each other’s souls, each other’s minds and each other’s hearts, and it was the most warm and dizzying feeling.

•••

“I really wish I could stay but I have a class to get to.” Brian stuck out a pout at the barista who was sticking on his apron and name badge for the second time that day.

“Oh, it’s fine. I have to work anyways. You distract me too so it’s a bonus.” Roger admitted, straightening up the badge and tying up his messy hair.

“I’ll text you later.” Brin promised. Roger nodded and then watched as his love left the shop, took a right and headed off to his uni lecture.

Roger brought out his phone instantly and dialed a certain number.  
“You bastard!” Roger shouted though the device, scaring a baffled Deaky on the other end.

“What? What have I done now?” Deaky inquired, coughing.

“You! Taking a day off to shag your bloody boyfriend, making me come into work! You’re a twat! I’ll never forgive you!” 

Deaky sniffed. “I am actually ill, Rog! Freddie is here, yes, but he’s mak-” cough. “-making me chicken soup! I feel like death.” 

Okay so maybe Deaky wasn’t actually faking his illness, but Roger still had his sneaky suspicious, even after John had a full coughing fit over the phone and he heard Freddie’s cooes and ‘aww’s’ and the slight noise of a peck on the lips. 

••

**told you i’d text you, didn’t i? ;) - Bri x**

Brian seemed to have kept his promise and did, infact, text Roger when he got home. 

**aha! I was waiting for hours on end Bri. HOURS.**

Roger giggles at his reply.

**Oh sure you did. Sorry it took so long. That uni class dragged on for ages! x**

Was it natural human instinct to add kisses on the ends of your messages because the other party was?

**No problem at all. I haven’t been home for long either.  
Got any plans for Christmas? x**

**Yeah, i’m visiting my parents on Christmas day and staying there till new years. Pretty much all the family will be there :) x**

**Ah, that sounds nice. I’ll miss you though :( x**

Roger was surprised at his own forwardness but he realised quite a while back that Brian isn’t just going to be thrown at him. He’d have to work for his love, and he’d work as hard as he damn had to.

**Awh, i’ll miss you, too. :(  
What are your plans? X**

**Nothing much. I can’t see my parents this year because of some things that went down so it’ll be just me and the TV this holiday. x**

**Can I ask what happened? x**

Roger wasn’t sure if he should tell Brian or not. He didn’t want to scare him off with all of his baggage and scary family drama. But, he trusted Brian. Brian didn’t seem like the asswhole who’d just dip.

**Well… let’s just say my parents weren’t over the moon when i told them i’m gay and they still aren’t really over it and so haven’t invited me for Christmas. It’s cool though.**

This made Brian almost cry on the spot. No parent should ever isolate their children because of their own person. Heck, he couldn’t ever imagine his father shutting him out.

**Good god, Rog, i’m so sorry.**

**Ah, don’t be silly, it’s fine. Besides, I think i’ll actually get some work done over the holidays.**

**What kind of parent would isolate someone as perfect and as kind as you just because of their sexuality. When I told my parents, they were super chill. God, i’m sorry Rog. You deserve nothing but the best :( xx**

A tear slowly rolled down Roger’s cheek. What did he ever do to deserve Brian? Brian, the most kind, caring, genuine and humble person Roger had ever had the pleasure in meeting. 

For a moment at the pond earlier, Roger though that him and Brian would kiss. When he laid his head on Brian’s bony shoulder and they both leaned in to each other from comfort, warmth, contact. Those fourish minutes were the most lovely minutes of Roger’s life. He wanted Brian to kiss him or him to kiss Brian. He wanted to feel Brian all over him, his lips, his eyes, his hands. He wanted to plant little chaste kisses on Brian’s cheeks, chin, nose, eyelids and temple. He wanted to hug Brian and never let go, never want to part with the happy dizziness Roger felt when they were near each other. Surely Brian felt it too?

 **I thought you were going to kiss me today** , Roger types slowly. **Why didn’t you?**

The blonde, shaking boy waits for Brian’s reply. He may have just fucked up his and Brian’s whole friendship. Having Brian as a friend is one thousand times better than not having Brian at all. Oh why did his fingers betray him?!

Roger’s phone pings with a reply.  
**I was going to.**  
Is that it?  
No.  
**But we ran out of time. You had to get back to work.**

Curse Café Freesia! Curse Tim! Curse John! Curse everything! If Tim had given him ten minutes more, Roger would have felt Brian’s slow, delicate lips moving against his. This thing between them would have had closure and they would probably be kissing at this very moment, in Brian’s bed, in each other’s arms.

And that’s it. That’s Roger’s chance gone! Because they ‘ran out of time’. Yet Brian, time is an illusion!, he wanted to scream. Time doesn’t exist! Come back to me now, my love, and our love and our lips can defy time. Oh please, mon amor.

 _Ping!_ Another message.

**Are you working tomorrow?**

Roger couldn’t bare to lie. 

**Yup.**

Brian replies.  
**I’ll see you then, then xx**

•••

Somebody once said, a long long time ago, that _‘you can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation’._ Sources say that somebody is Plato, but realistically, nobody can ever be sure.

But whoever said it was right. When Roger really thought about it, the duration he spent admiring Brian was a very short period of time compared to everything else. But in that short period of time, Roger discovered more about Brian than most others could in a year.

At the beginning, Roger had admired Brian from behind the counter, taking sneaky peeks of him whenever and wherever he could. Roger, however, didn’t notice that Brian did the exact same thing. They were too blind to notice one another’s feelings and _that_ is equivalent to a modern day tragedy.

It was Christmas Eve and Roger was listening to his french music again. Still Edith Piaf, of course, and still La Vie En Rose, of course. He closed his eyes and drifted off to his Brian filled imagination, taking his mind and his body back to Paris. 

However, a customer knocked him back awake with a sharp poke. Surprisingly, the shop wasn’t as busy as Roger thought it would be. There was just this one rude bloke stood in front of him, the same two elderly ladies who came to the shop every sunday, a man in his 50s doing something on his laptop in the corner and a mother and daughter, the daughter wearing a red, green and white christmas themed tutu.

Roger was thankful it wasn’t too busy. He served the customers requested hot chocolate (which he refrained from spitting in, thank God) and saw the bloke make his way out. Now he could enter his Parisian dreamland once again.

He repeated the same vision in his head once again. The old radio which was crackling as French jazz flowed through the speakers. The vintage café smelt like honey and lavender with a splash of sweet pastry. The scent of coffee lingered in the air and Roger was drunk on it. But, he was more drunk over the familiar man wearing a black suit with a mop of curly, brown hair who sat in his usual seat in the café, the word’s _‘you know where i’ll be’_ coming from his lips every time he ordered a beverage. 

The man was still flicking through his newspaper, as he had thousands of times before in Roger’s mind. He tucked a fallen strand of dark curl behind his ear and Roger fell more in love. The kindness that emitted from the man’s face was undeniable. Roger always loved a kind, smart and gentle man.

The chiming of the entrance bell dragged Roger away from his fantasies and therefore dragged away his small moment of happiness. He looked up towards the door and there was his man. His Brian.

Roger knew today was the last day before Brian went to visit his family for a while. He had a different aura around him and damn, Roger wanted to kiss Parisian fantasy Brian just as much as he wanted to kiss the real Brian.

Their eyes met and they both knew this wasn’t a regular check in to the shop. Roger still wanted Brian to kiss him slow and soft and Brian wanted the exact same thing. To attach his mouth to Roger’s, to breathe the same air as Roger, to indulge in something so intimate with Roger that both would be gasping for air at the end.

They both knew that this was it. That this must be it because from tomorrow, Roger won’t be seeing the curly haired boy walk into his shop for a good two-ish weeks and they both knew they couldn’t bear being apart for that long without a goodbye kiss.

Were they going to kiss in front of the people sat currently in the café? Most likely.

Brian strode carefully over to the blonde barista, but instead of heading towards the front of the service desk, he aimed to where Roger was stood behind it. Roger took little steps towards Brian too, wanting to get as close as he could to the older man. This was it.

Neither spoke a word as they met halfway. They were stood awfully close, chest to chest, heart to heart, soul to soul. 

Brian quietly brought his hand up to Roger’s head, brushing back a soft lock of blonde hair behind his ear. The taller boy let out a tiny sigh because he truly couldn’t believe how beautiful the boy stood in front of him was.

“Hi.” Roger squeaked out, unaware that everyone sat in the café now had their eyes on the couple.

“Hello you.” Brian winked, a smile pulling at the end of his mouth. Roger smiled back trying his hardest not to shed happy tears.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you for ages.” Roger admitted. Brian beamed. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since I first walked through that door and realised that I was in love with you already.” 

Instead of letting Roger reply, Brian held the sides of his face and brought their lips together. It wasn’t fast nor heated, but delicate, slow, sensual and most certainly passionate. They both kept their tongues at bay knowing that there was a child present but they still remained lip locked together in each other’s loving embrace.

Roger parted for a brief second to grasp some air.  
“I love you so much.” He finally admitted. “Is it too soon?”

Brian shook his head, rubbing his thumb over Roger’s chin. “Not at all.” - and they kissed again.

But this time, the people in the café started cheering. Cheering!

And at that gorgeous sound, Roger really did feel like he was at last living his Parisian fantasy. And even though they were in grimy London in a shitty little café, this was somehow better than fantasy Paris. Because Roger had the real Brian in his arms and he was kissing him at a gentle pace, which was more than he asked for. 

And Roger also wondered if fantasy 1920s Paris was really just a fantasy or a past life. Because he was now convinced that him and Brian will meet in the next life, and the next, and the next and somehow find their way back to each other.

For all Brian had to do was walk in, meet his eyes and say to him, ‘you know where i’ll be’, and Roger will know exactly where to go and find him.

**Author's Note:**

> i am actually so proud of this ;)  
> let me know your thoughts!  
> as some of you already know, my memory is terrible and i wrote this over two days, so if some of the storyline doesn’t add up in little aspects, please let me off :,)


End file.
